Friday, September 4, 2015

“Death Awaits Him”: The Photographs of the 93rd New York, Part 4.

In the last three posts, I’ve profiled the combat debut of
the 93rd New York at the Battle of the Wilderness. Let’s return to
that regiment and to that battle in part four.

As the 93rd New York formed for action on May 5,
1864, a short dialogue occurred in the ranks of Company F. Captain John Bailey
turned to Sergeant Adoniram Judson Gibbs. He said, “I have an impression, a
premonition that I shall be killed in this battle. I shall not come off this
field alive.” Gibbs tried to cheer him up, but Bailey would hear none of it. He
shook his head and told him that death was certain. Gibbs remembered the next
few moments:

As we were drawn up in line, at the crossing of the Brock and
Orange plank roads, and ordered forward into the woods, Company F, Capt.
Bailey’s company, had the right of the regiment. While marching through the
woods, and approaching the ravine, so soon to be the scene of a fierce
conflict, he called me to his side. ‘Take your place as file closer, Sergeant,
and see that every man is in his place and does his duty,’ said he. Noticing
that he appeared nervous, dejected and very pale, I tried again to change his
thoughts and direct them in another channel, but he only shook his head. I was
partially rewarded, though, by seeing a look of heroic and settled
determination overspread his countenance, and I remember thinking, ‘Perhaps he
will shake it off.’ We received the shock of battle. Capt. Bailey fell,
mortally wounded. I ran to him and gave him a drink of water. As soon as he
could speak he exclaimed: ‘O, Sergeant! This is my last.’ I then understood the
meaning of the changed look in his countenance. It meant, ‘I lay life down for
the cause.’

Gibbs remembered the death of Captain Bailey for the rest of
his life. Thirty-one years later, Gibbs joined a committee of veterans that
collected stories for a regimental history. He made sure to mention
the above incident. Gibbs remembered Bailey’s final moment, and not because his
captain’s death premonition had preceded it. He remembered it because, before
the battle, Captain Bailey felt fear, just like any soldier in the 93rd.
Yet, Bailey chose to confront that fear directly. Gibbs explained: “He was a
hero in the true sense. The soldier who marches to his fate in the performance
of duty, though firmly impressed that certain death awaits him in the
performance of that duty, is a hero.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Here is a photograph taken by Timothy O'Sullivan at Bealton Station. Captain Bailey, the officer who had a premonition of death, is seated at the far left. He is holding a bottle.